 |
Duration: 10:00 minutes Upload Time: 2007-12-29 19:54:43 User: GDHouston :::: Favorites :::: Top Videos of Day |
|
Description: Battlefield II: "The War Against the U-Boats" 1/10 Videos Running Time 01:40:00 in 10 Parts "Battlefield: "The War Against the U-Boats" This episode of "Battlefield" chronicles; "The Battle of the Atlantic." The Battle of the Atlantic began with the declaration of war on Germany by Britain and France, on September 3, 1939. Then Kommodore (Commodore), Führer der Unterseeboote (Commander Submarines) Karl Dönitz, had requested from Hitler and Großadmiral (Grand Admiral) Raeder, 300 U-boats at the beginning of the war. Dönitz began the battle with just 50. Dönitz crews and commanders considered themselves the elite of the Kriegsmarine. After incrdebable daring raids, like the sinking of the battleship Royal Oak, Hitler began to take Dönitz advice serious. The Royal Navy was completely unprepared for "The Battle of the Atlantic." World War I style ships and equipment, were no match for; World War II submarines and tactics. The introduction of the convoy system was the answer, but with proper escort, aircraft patrols and sonar. Even with the United States entering the war the Allies found the battle a failure. The first "Happy Time" as the German called it, reigned in from; June 1940-Feburary 1941. The Royal Navy suffered a series of setbacks that confirmed what Dönitz had been advocating from the start; unrelenting and unrestricted submarine warfare. The Royal Navy's greatest ally, the French Navy was finished. Italy with her large Mediterranean Fleet (Regia Marina) had declared war on Britain. U-boats gained access to French ports. The campaign in Norway and Dunkirk had placed a heavy strain on the Royal Navy's destroyer flotillas. All these situations turned the U-boat battle from being a serious menace to a war losing proposition to the British people. With incredible perseverance British, Canadian and American Navies pooled their resources and knowledge to regain control of the Atlantic. Improved; sonar (ASDIC), depth charge devices, sound detection equipment, airborne radar, escort aircraft carriers, the introduction of hunter-killer ASW groups, High Frequency Direction Finding (Huff-Duff), and the breaking of the Kriegsmarines 4-wheel enigma, all were instrumental in defeating the U-Boats by 1943. The Allies became so efficient and competent at Anti-Submarine Warfare that more U-Boats were sunk, than merchant ships in the North Atlantic from 1944-1945. Both the Axis and Allies suffered tremendous losses. The Allies lost; 3500 merchant vessels with 30,000 merchant sailors. The tonnage lost approached nearly 15 million tons. The Kreigsmarine lost 783 U-Boats with 28,000 U-Boat crewmen killed. Enjoy this excellent episode; Battlefields II " The War Against the U-Boat." |
|
Comments | |
| OlderPete ::: Favorites 2008-01-11 22:54:06 First rate stuff. Will rate all I view Sir! __________________________________________________ | |
| Kriegbell ::: Favorites 2008-01-11 17:46:29 If it were up to me, I would rate all your videos 5*(x2)! I will do my best to rate them as much as possible. __________________________________________________ | |
| Jomokb76 ::: Favorites 2008-01-05 03:43:00 i enjoy all ur videos and i rate it 5 * __________________________________________________ | |
| fatuesque ::: Favorites 2008-01-04 14:26:34 I find the u-boats fascinating because they had such high casualty rates and the scales tipped so much against them throughout the war. When the war started u-boats were a very powerfull weapon but once a u-boat was captured with an enigma machine on it,it was all downhill from then on.Then radar came in and more powerfull anti submarine weapons and the "happy time" was over. __________________________________________________ | |
| GDHouston ::: Favorites 2008-01-04 13:53:38 PLEASE!!! If you enjoyed the videos rate! The more the rating, the More views for everyone __________________________________________________ | |
| kyaw1969 ::: Favorites 2008-01-04 09:24:57 great videos houston, __________________________________________________ | |
| sugarpuddin88 ::: Favorites 2008-01-03 18:52:19 I bet the bankers who loaned Britain money for war loved the U-Boat! __________________________________________________ | |
| sugarpuddin88 ::: Favorites 2008-01-03 18:49:20 Very interesting __________________________________________________ | |
| BarnoldFi ::: Favorites 2008-01-03 05:38:36 I stand corrected, or to be more precise, the authors of the documentary should. This is another aspect of GDHouston's posts I like - they often produce intelligent and knowledgeable discussion, a rare delicacy these days. __________________________________________________ | |
| lectocom ::: Favorites 2008-01-03 05:25:14 "Taking power" is normally used to mean forming a government, and for the Nazis this happened when Hitler became Chancellor — i.e. in January 1933; under the Weimar constitution, simply becoming the largest party in the Reichstag did not secure the authority to form a government. When the Nazis subsequently used the word "Machtergreifung" (seizure of power), they meant the acquisition of governmental authority that happened in 1933. The commentary is in error on this point. __________________________________________________ | |
| BarnoldFi ::: Favorites 2008-01-03 04:17:27 Depends on what "taking power" means. In 1932 the Nazi party became the biggest in the German parliament, and Hitler was appointed Reichskanzler in January 1933. __________________________________________________ | |
| lectocom ::: Favorites 2008-01-02 20:39:18 Many thanks for uploading this! Commentary has one curious error: the statement that Hitler took power in 1932... __________________________________________________ | |
| LTDcunuk ::: Favorites 2008-01-01 23:20:45 another great doc. GD. thanks for posting __________________________________________________ | |
| lighttunnel ::: Favorites 2008-01-01 18:39:11 u are great __________________________________________________ | |
| downding ::: Favorites 2008-01-01 14:07:45 PBS used to show these sorts of shows. Such a shame now. __________________________________________________ | |
No comments:
Post a Comment